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Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Blu Review: Would You Rather (Confirmed:Good)

And you thought your dinner parties were bad!

Over a very juvenile, but entertaining game of would
you rather at dinner with friends last Saturday night as we endured a rather
long wait for food, fellow EpicReview writer Barbecue17 mentioned a recent
horror film based on the game that has been garnering a little bit of buzz. The curiosity that arose out of the premise
alone propelled us to go to the nearest Redbox and rent the film. I think the cover art of the blu-ray which
features an eyeball about to get grazed by a razor blade went a long way in
ensuring that the blu-ray would be in stock, although it was checked out at the
first Redbox we went to. So was film as
entertaining as our game at dinner? Find out after the break……

I don't know if this box art will entice many people!

Director David Levy’s choice on how to use the over
played game "would you rather" is what really makes this film somewhat
entertaining. He chooses to take a game
that is often used to get to know your new college roommates and give it high,
real world stakes. In the film wealthy business man Shepard Lambrick (Jeffery Combs) once a
year opens up his home to
a desperate group of people with very expensive problems that he promises to
cure if they can win a brutal game of "would you rather." For example the film's lead, Iris (Brittany
Snow), is promised a bone marrow transplant for her brother Raleigh (Logan Miller)
if she can win the game.

Jeffery Combs' performance as Shepard Lambrick was truly menacing!

For the most part the performances in Would You Rather are not bad, but not
very memorable either, with one glaring
exception in the form of Jeffery Combs' performance as Shepard Lambrick! Combs'
performance carries the films as he hosts the most intense and brutal game of
"would you rather" ever played. Combs is
truly menacing nearly every second he is on screen, and does an exceptional job
in establishing and maintaining the overall tone and central theme of the film. A central theme that really doesn’t set Would You Rather apart from other
torture choice films like Saw, but
gives the film an added layer none the less.
That theme comes in the form of a question that asks: Is it really worth
sacrificing your morals and your beliefs in order to essentially play God?

WARNING:Would you rather provides its share of shocking moments!

Perhaps Would You Rather’s appeal is how much it keeps the audience involved it what
is going on the entire way through. As Shepard Lambrick presents task after
task over the course of the game, you can’t help but wonder what choice you
would make in that particular situation. This element makes Would You Rather a rather entertaining experience throughout the
majority of the film. So now the only question cinephiles have to ask themselves
is would they rather see this film or just give up on the torture choice sub-genre of horror films after experiencing what seems like hundreds of Saw and
Hostel films? Choose wisely!